Uppalavanna

Uppalavannā (蓮華色比丘尼)was considered to be amongst the two chief female disciples of the Buddha, the other being Khema.

She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and was known for her great beauty. Her name means "one with the hue of the blue lotus".

Family life and renunciation

She suffered from a horrible family life, she was kicked out of her house, and eventually she met with great poverty and had multiple marriages to try to get out of her poverty. Eventually she found her own daughter (whom she thought was dead in her second marriage) married to her final husband, and the thought that she shared a man with her own daughter sickened her so much that she sought refuge in the Buddha and became a nun. [Paw Dhamma Center (n.d.).]

Life as a nun

Buddha declared her to be the foremost in supernormal powers among the nuns. ["Etadaggavagga" ("These are the Foremost Chapter," AN 1.14) [http://www.mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html (Uppalavanna, n.d.),] verse 237.]

Samyutta Nikaya V.5, the Uppalavanna Sutta, is attributed to her:

:Then the bhikkhuni Uppalavanna, having understood, "This is Mara the Evil One," replied to him in verses:

::Though a hundred thousand rogues::Just like you might come here,::I stir not a hair, I feel no terror;::Even alone, Mara, I don't fear you.

::I can make myself disappear::Or I can enter inside your belly.::I can stand between your eyebrows::Yet you won't catch a glimpse of me.

::I am the master of my own mind,::The bases of power are well developed;::I am freed from every kind of bondage,::Therefore I don't fear you, friend.

:Then Mara the Evil One, realizing, "The bhikkhuni Uppalavanna knows me," sad and disappointed, disappeared right there. ["Uppalavanna Sutta" (SN 5.5) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.005.bodh.html (Bodhi, 1997).] ]

ee also

* Sravaka (disciple)
* Abhijna (higher powers)

Notes

ources

* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). "Uppalavanna Sutta: Uppalavanna" (SN 5.5). Retrieved 2007-10-19 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.005.bodh.html.
* Paw Dhamma Center (n.d.). "The Chief Disciple Uppalavanna Theri". Retrieved from Paw Dhamma Center at http://home.earthlink.net/~mpaw1235/id11.html.
* Upalavanna, Sister (trans.) (n.d.). "Etadaggavagga: These are the foremost" (AN 1:14). Retrieved 2007-10-19 from "MettaNet" at http://www.mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html.

External links

* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed., trans.) (1997). "Discourses of the Ancient Nuns (Bhikkhuni-samyutta)" (Bodhi Leaves Publication No. 143). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-10-19 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bl143.html.
* Nibbana.com (n.d.). "Life Histories of Bhikkhuni Arahats: The story of Uppalavanna Theri". Retrieved from "Nibbana.com" at http://www.triplegem.plus.com/gcobbkn1.htm#3.